Labor's plan to deliver 50% renewable energy by 2050 could add between $160 and $264 to annual household power bills. But this could be completely offset by better policies to encourage energy efficiency.

Tasmanian hydro power had a boom couple of years when the carbon price was in place.
CSIRO/Wikimedia CommonsJuly 20, 2015

A year after the demise of the carbon tax, we might expect both coal and greenhouse emissions to have bounced back, at the expense of renewables like hydroelectricity. Sure enough, that's what happened.

There are many misleading claims about what happens after electricity privatisation – including the impact on prices and on jobs.
Paul Miller/AAPMarch 17, 2015

During Melbourne’s recent spell of hot weather, my air conditioner got a workout after a long hiatus. Technically it’s a split system that also could have been used during winter, but like many Melbourne…

There’s been much talk about how uncertainty over the future of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) is affecting the renewable energy industry. Investment in renewable energy is at its lowest level since…

Should you be paying for big energy users?
Bill image from www.shutterstock.comNovember 4, 2014

The federal government has now achieved passage of its Direct Action plan through the Senate. Some wheeling and dealing with the cross-benches was required of course – but while the government may oppose…

The review of the Renewable Energy Target is due to be handed to the federal government any day now, yet amazingly there are still conflicts over whether the policy makes electricity more or less expensive…

Third time lucky: after a deal between Clive Palmer (right) and his Senate PUPs with the government, the carbon tax has finally been repealed.
Alan Porritt/AAPJuly 14, 2014

If you heard Clive Palmer and his Palmer United senators say today that they will only scrap the carbon tax with stronger rules to protect consumers, you might have thought they sounded quite fair and…

Cooling towers at Yallourn, one of Victoria’s major brown coal power generators.
Flickr/ccdoh1February 10, 2014

Australia’s Renewable Energy Target looks likely to be weakened or even axed, with the Prime Minister saying the scheme needs to be reviewed because it is causing “pretty significant price pressure”. But…

Heatwaves provide a good reminder we need to think more carefully about how we use energy.
Wiz78/FlickrJanuary 23, 2014

When it comes to expectations for power price rises in the year ahead, the short answer is on average we can expect them to be less severe in 2014 than in recent years. The long answer, driven by electricity…

Blackouts remind us what life was like before cheap, readily available electricity - but it’s time to think about the true price of our power.
Candle in the dark image from www.shutterstock.com/RonenMarch 29, 2013

No lights, no power, no internet - and no easy solutions. Fumbling around in a middle of a blackout, hoping to find a torch or some spare batteries, I was struck by just how utterly dependent most of us…

Concentrated solar thermal power remains expensive compared to other forms of energy.
International Rivers.February 5, 2013